Review of Play (2011)
Seen in 2015.
Much of this is an unsuccessful imitation of Michael Haneke. The interesting part is the exploration of how an exotic outsider status creates some apparent opportunities, which are traps and serve to cement limitations imposed by the same outsider status, the limitations being larger than the opportunities. It’s a great theme, but I feel that this exploration could and should have been done without the awkward, not-so-plausible false imprisonment.
I once spent a few days working in the toy store you see in the very first shot of the film. By the time I saw the film, the store no longer existed.